Events Archive
Events
Event Date: 2024-05-23
Event Price: Advance Prices: £6 UoE Students, £10 Concession, £15 Full / On the Door Prices: £8 UoE Students, £12 Concessions, £16 Full
The History Boys
The History Boys, by Alan Bennett
History. It’s just one bloody thing after another, right?
An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in a British boarding school are, as such boys will be, in pursuit of sex, sport, and a place at a good university – generally in that order.
In all their efforts, they are helped and hindered, enlightened and bemused, by a maverick English teacher who seeks to broaden their horizons in sometimes undefined ways, and by a young history teacher who questions the methods, as well as the aim, of their schooling.
In The History Boys, Alan Bennett raises – with gentle wit and pitch-perfect command of character – not only universal questions about the nature of history and how it is taught but also questions about the purpose of education today.
The History Boys is produced, directed and acted by University of Essex Theatre Arts Society Members.
Cast TBC
- Cast list will be released soon, please check back.
Show Guidance
- 100 minute run time
- Age guide: 14+
- Please be aware that this play expresses adult themes, including: explicit language, sexual references, racism, antisemitism, adult/minor relationship and grooming
Event Date: 2024-04-23
Event Price: FREE
Stories from the Stead
Film Screening: ‘This Moment and The Next’ and ‘Resident Diaries’
The Stories from the Stead project presents two documentary films made with people living and working on the Greenstead estate, Colchester.
Come join us for the screenings of two new films produced by Nic Blower from The Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies at The University of Essex.
The two films being screened at the Lakeside Theatre are This Moment and The Next (75 mins) and Resident Diaries (35 mins).
The screenings are free and open to all.
Please book your tickets.
Read more about the films in this news article from the University of Essex.
Event Date: 2024-03-16
Event Price: Advance Prices: £6 UoE Students, £10 Concession, £15 Full / On the Door Prices: £8 UoE Students, £12 Concessions, £16 Full
Lost in Transition
M Night: Lost in Transition
Friendship, Growth and Unity
A new play by the University of Essex Malaysian Society as part of the national “M Night” celebrations.
“Lost in Transition” follows Ah Hock’s journey from Malaysia to the UK for his studies, intertwining his experience with fellow students Alia, Muthu, and others.
It delves into the themes of cultural identity, adaptation, and the complexities of new friendships. As they navigate academic pressures and personal growth, their stories reflect the universal challenges of young adults seeking their place in a foreign land, showing the importance of support, understanding, and resilience amidst cultural diversity and change.
Event Date: 2024-04-30
Event Price: £5.50
The Son
THE SON
A Homegrown Season production by Tyler Reuben, BA Film and Drama.
Peter’s hectic life gets upended when his ex-wife tells him their teenage son, Nicholas, is deeply troubled. He soon tries to take care of Nicholas the same way he would have wanted his own father to have taken care of him.
Show Guidance
- Age guidance: 14+
- Run-time: 90 minutes (no interval)
- Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence
Event Date: 2024-03-12
Event Price: £5.50
CANCELLED – Monkeys in Shoes
Please note that Monkeys in Shoes has been postponed to a later date. We will update once a new date has been arranged.
A Homegrown Season production by Will Tennison, BA Politics and Philosophy
From the writer of The Tree, Monkey’s in Shoes is a one-man performance exploring what separates us from our common ancestor, monkeys.
What distinguishes us from the monkeys we share a common ancestor with?
Embark on a journey with Will Tennison in this solo performance, where he skilfully intertwines poetry and storytelling, inviting you to the rollercoaster of human experience. With themes ranging from love to grief and friendship to even the weather, Will aims to illuminate the depth and complexity that sets humanity apart—proving once and for all that we are far more than mere monkeys wearing shoes.
Event Date: 2024-03-19
Event Price: £5.50
CANCELLED – Womb Eye
Please note that Womb Eye has been postponed to a later date. We will update once a new date has been arranged.
A Homegrown Season production by Stella Perry, PhD Theatre Studies, Playwriting
This performance of Womb Eye is a staged reading.
Womb Eye is a concept piece about two entities who awaken in a dark limbo. They explore language, power dynamics, and fate, knowing only one can survive.
This work investigates Antonin Artaud’s idea of theatre as a “magical exorcism”, in which the actors and audience commune in a language of gesture, sound, and image.
Stella is a Punk-Noir writer/director/performer. Theatrical works include the House of Carte Blanc trilogy, The Oppenheimer, HMLT, Norwich Pepper Girl, and The Blood Vessel. Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Brooklyn based theatre group Zemwerk.
Show Guidance
- Age guidance: 18+
- Language, violence, some flashing lights, jarring soundscape.
- Run-time: 60 minutes
Event Date: 2024-03-05
Event Price: £5.50
She’s Very Gorgeous to Me
She’s Very Gorgeous to Me
A Homegrown Season production by Jubril Agboola, BA Drama (2023) alumni
She’s Very Gorgeous to Me is a heart-warming romantic comedy and quirky tale that follows the peculiar life of lover boy Stu Benjamin, a 27 year old eccentric and socially awkward lover boy.
Stu’s emotional baggage stems from his emotionally distant mother and the loss of his father at a young age. The play unfolds in Stu’s intimate studio apartment, a sanctuary where he feels most comfortable and vulnerable.
Desperately seeking love, Stu’s journey takes an unexpected turn when he encounters Maude, a captivating and seemingly perfect woman working in an adult store. Drawn to her intelligence, humor, and compassion, Stu falls head over heels in love. However, there’s a surreal twist that Stu remains blissfully unaware of—Maude is a Sex Doll.
Inspired by elements of ancient Greek mythology (Pygmalion) and films like Martin Scorsese’s King of Comedy, Craig Gillespie’s Lars and the Real Girl, and Marc Webb’s 500 Days of Summer, the play explores the fine line between fantasy and reality, love and delusion.
As Stu’s romantic illusions collide with the harsh truth, the play weaves a tragicomic narrative that raises profound questions about love, expectation, and the cost of holding onto a romantic ideal. Stu’s relentless pursuit of love, driven by his yearning for connection, ultimately becomes his undoing, making She’s Very Gorgeous to Me a compelling exploration of the human condition and the sometimes devastating consequences of unbridled romanticism.
Filled with humor, warmth, and unexpected twists, the film explores the transformative power of love, the importance of acceptance, and the extraordinary ways people find connection in the most unexpected places. It’s a unique and touching journey that will leave audiences with a blend of laughter nd a renewed appreciation for the complexities of human relationships.
Event Date: 2024-02-27
Event Price: £5.50
Real Housewives of Bible
Real Housewives of Bible
by Saadiya Ali
A Homegrown Season production by Saadiya Ali, East 15 Acting School MA Acting International alumni.
Join Saadiya Ali as she explores a series of honest monologues from the women of the Bible.
With female presenting characters like: Sarah (Noah’s wife), Lilith, Lucifer and Gabriel the unpaid intern. This is a dark comedy that reflects on ideas that we still pass along despite these ideas being outdated and damaging.
Event Date: 2024-02-13
Event Price: FREE
We Were Here
We Were Here
We will be screening David Weissman’s 2011 film, We Were Here, as part of LGBTQ+ History Month and in partnership with Dr Sean Seeger of the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies. The screening is for everyone, but Dr Sean Seeger’s students are particularly encouraged to join us.
This screening is FREE and open to all!
An intimate, yet epic history of the AIDS years in San Francisco, as told through the stories of five longtime San Franciscans. The film documents the coming of what was called the “Gay Plague” in the early 1980s. It illuminates the profound personal and community issues raised by the AIDS epidemic as well as the broad political and social upheavals it unleashed. WE WERE HERE offers a cathartic validation for the generation that suffered through, and responded to, the onset of AIDS. It opens a window of understanding to those who have only the vaguest notions of what transpired in those years and provides insight into what society could, and should, offer its citizens in the way of medical care, social services, and community support.
“Of all the cinematic explorations of the AIDS crisis, not one is more heartbreaking and inspiring than WE WERE HERE… The humility, wisdom and cumulative sorrow expressed lend the film a glow of spirituality and infuse it with grace… ONE OF THE TOP TEN FILMS OF THE YEAR.” – Stephen Holden, New York Times
“An extraordinarily moving examination of how the AIDS epidemic both devastated and transformed San Francisco’s gay community, this clear-eyed and soulful documentary brings us inside the contagion in a way that is so intimate, so personal, you feel like you’re hearing about these catastrophic events for the first time.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
2013 Emmy Nomination for Outstanding History Documentary
2011 Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Documentary***
Event Date: 2024-02-21
Event Price: FREE
The Watermelon Woman
The Watermelon Woman
We will be screening Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 film, The Watermelon Woman as part of LGBTQ+ History Month and in partnership with Dr Sean Seeger of the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies. The screening is for everyone, but Dr Sean Seeger’s students are particularly encouraged to join us.
This screening is FREE and open to all!
Cheryl Dunye plays a version of herself in this witty, nimble landmark of New Queer Cinema.
A video store clerk and fledgling filmmaker, Cheryl becomes obsessed with the “most beautiful mammy,” a character she sees in a 1930s movie. Determined to find out who the actress she knows only as the “Watermelon Woman” was and make her the subject of a documentary, she starts researching and is bowled over to discover that not only was Fae Richards (Lisa Marie Bronson) a fellow Philadelphian but also a lesbian.
The project is not without drama as Cheryl’s singular focus causes friction between her and her friend Tamara (Valarie Walker) and as she begins to see parallels between Fae’s problematic relationship with a white director and her own budding romance with white Diana (fellow filmmaker Guinevere Turner).
Winner of Best Feature Film at the Berlin International Film Festival.